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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (July 19, 1956)
V:J'-Mi t': ! ! ! ! 4 5 (- ill $ ? f r ! jfi, 7 -yV- fl fpf wJ - - COURT SESSION DELAYED Billy Junior Nunn. centfr in dark mit, is shown calmly waiting f-r selertion of jurors in his first rirgree murder trial. Nunn is charged with the ft-x slaving of 11-year-old Alvin William V,a"-r: Arm! 19. Wednesday' session was delayed as furniture was being moved into Selection of Jury Completed; Trial Expected to Start Today A jury of six men and six women v a- impanelled at 11:45 0 a.m. today to serve in the lirsl decree murder Inal of Billy Junior Nunn, 113. Klamath Falls, charged with the April 19 slay ing of 14-year-old Alvin William F.acret. Nunn has pleaded inno cent to the charge. Tin- til.il v as expected to get under wav tins afternoon, fol lowing selection of two alter naie juror-. Selected to Serva Si-l-.-i.-ied to serve on the jury omo Kwaldson, Dorothy Yoimc. Wa'laci- Rasmussen. Arn old Zempei. James B. Shaw. Al vin York, Betty Lacy, Dorothea Hirshoiser. Maybert Gilmer. Dorothy Nease. Howard Davis and In'a Bell Ragsrlale. Three special venires have been issued during the jury selection. Defense Attorney Sam Harbi son exercised all 12 of his pre emptnrv challenge richts. Dis trict Attorney Walter Nunley exercised five of the six the law a'lows him. Twenty - three prospective jurors were dismissed after ex amination. The court dismissed six jurors and one alternate. Ac cording to law. a juror must be dismissed by the court for such reasons as having an opinion he feels unable to set aside or a j conscientious objection to the I death penalty. If a defendant is j found auil'y of irst degree mur-; der. ine death renai'v is mandn torv unless the jury recommends leniency. 18 Witnesses Alan Holmes, deputy district attorney assisting with the state's case, said the state plans to call approximately 18 wit nesses. Ore of the first to ap pear will be Mrs. La Rue Mict dauch, 18. formerly of Dorris, Calif., now residing in Klamath Falls. She was one of two people who discovered the Eacret boy's nude body at Tubb Springs state park several days after his dis appearance from home. Other witnesses will include State Tolicp Sgt. Thomas Eaton. Morse, McKay Speak On Heils Canyon Vole Portland iU.R' The office of Sen. Wayne Morse in Port land today issued this statement from the Senafor following de feat i t the Heils Canyon bill in the Senate: "The defeat of the Hells Can yon bill is a tragic blow to the r ifai e of the nation. The Eisen hower administration cracked a political whip on Republican senators with the result that an other give-away of our natural resources was perpetrated on the American people." Portland -.U.PJ Douglas Mc Kay. Republican candidate for the United States Senate, today hailed defeat of the Hells Can yon bill in the Senate as "a great boon to the power-hungry Pa cific Northwest." McKay said the Democratic sponsored measure "was an au thorisation bill" and not an ap propriation. He declared ,that "past history in the northwest has indicated that it takes from seven to 10 years after author ization to get appropriations." He added, "we can't wait that lone." Equipment Failure Leaves City, County Without Power An equipm California O: failure at the t ower com- pary sub-station at Prospect yes terday caused Medford and Jack son county to he without electri cal service for periods ranging from 17 to 35 minutes in dif ferent areas. Copco district Frank Benesh rr.anaiior. said the outace was due TO a bihint; failure on larse s:a- p;uvtT termer a tn tj!, 1. The bush ins is an in' tion on one of the wires leading into the transformer. The central srrvice area. Med - ford and icinity, was without Chief Deputy Sheriff Joseph Walsh, two of the investigating officers in the case and Shirley Bishop, a restaurant operator. Sgt. Eaton, Deputy Walsh and Mrs. Bishop also appeared be fore the grand jury. Request Denied A request from the state that the jury be taken to the scene of the crime was denied by Judge H. K. Hanna Wednesday afternoon. Both the judge and defense attorney said they would consider the trip an unneces Directors Set Date For Talent Election The board of directors of the Talent Irrigation district today set Aug. 22 as the date for the elction among district land owners on a repayment contract for irrigation features of the Talent irrigation and reclama tion project. The election will be held be tween 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. that day at the district's office on Valley View rd. just east of Talent. Final Details The contract, final details of Formal Charges Are Filed in Narcotics I Case; Hearing Set j Donald La Verne Ambuehl was i formally charged in district court this morning with unlawfully dealing in narcotics. Ambuehl. 31. operator of the Y-Club in north Medford, was ! committed to county jail after j failing to post S3.500 bond set by- District Judge Rawles Moore. Preliminary hearing was set for 10 a.m. July 25. Arrested Wednesday Ambuehl was arrested Wed nesday by city and state police following several days of inves tigation after receiving a "tip" early last week. Ambuehl was a suspect, and officers followed him to the j Plaza apartments and confront i ed him w hen he attempted to leave the building early yester- ', day. Seeing them, he ran to his car and in trying to get away from the officers, backed his car approximately three blocks. As he attempted to get it into a pos ition to go forward, a state po lice car rammed Ambuehl's veh icle, bringing it to a halt. Police Chief Charles Champ lin said federal narcotics agents have placed a federal "hold" order on Ambuehl's car. Continue Investigation Although a narcotics agent is expected to arrive in Medford tomorrow in connection with the case, city and state officers are i continuing their investigation for further evidence. Champlin stressed that the police have no indication that juveniles have been obtaining or j using the narcotics. He request i ed that "parents suspecting any juveniles of using or buying ; narcotics to notify the police de i partment immediately. electricity for about 17 minutes; from the time the outaae oc curred at 4 48 p m. Service in the area around Gold Hill was out 25 minutes, and in the area i south of Medford. including' Phoenix. Talent and Ashland, I : was out 35 minutes. Benesh said the failure affect- I ed all of Jackson county and a part of Josephine county in the Murphy and Pro volt districts on ; : the Applegate river, j Complete repairs at the sub- ' station were not finished until ' 3 a.m. today, Benesh reported. the new circuit court room. Xunn's trial will be the first to be held in the new birch panel room. Behind Nunn are. left to right. Alan Holmes, deputy district attorney: Sam Harbi son, court-appointed defense attorney; and Deputy Sheriff Ed Zander. At extreme left is Ed Kellv, Medford attorney. sary inconvenience, though the district attorney said failure to make the trip would be an in convenience to the state. Con siderable argument ensued be tween Nunley and Harbison, but the decision was not changed. Mrs. Billy Junior Nunn, wife of the defendant, has been pres ent since the trial opened Tues day morning. She has been asked to stand several times during the jury examinations for purposes of identification. Mrs. Nunn is expecting her second child in the near future. which are now being completed, provides that somewhat less than half of the irrigation fea tures of the project, totaling about $5,000,000. will be paid back from water-user fees over a 60-year period. No interest will be charged by the govern ment. Total cost of the project has been estimated at about S21, 000,000. Of this, about S12.000, 000 has been allocated to irri gation, but less than half of this amount will have to be repaid from water fees. The balance will be paid from revenues from the saie of power to he generated at the Green Springs power plant, or will be non-reimbursable items paid for by the federal government, in cluding flood control, recrea tion and fish and wildlife benefits. Meeting Planned The contract itself will be be tween the Talent district and the bureau of reclamation. A meeting has been planned for the week of Aug. 6 at which time the TID board of directors and representatives of the bu reau of reclamation will discuss the project, the contract, and other phases of the plan, with water users of the district, who are invited to attend. Oregon law (ORS 545.002) provides that those eligible to vote in a repayment contract election are those owning four or more acres of land in and assessed by the district. Eiigible landowners can vote by absentee ballot, if necessary, but must apply for them from the district secretary on or be fore Aug. 11 to be eligible -to cast them. BASEBALL AMERICAN Kansas City 8 10 1 Boston 4 6 1 Burnette and Thompson; Sissler, Delock (8) and White. Home runs: Piersall, Boston; Power, Kansas City; Williams. Boston. Simpson. Kansas City. Fagfe Point Man Hurt In Tractor Accident Wayne Whaley, 41, Eagle Point, was reported in serious condition at Sacred Heart hos pital following a tread tractor accident this morning on the Christean brothers logging op eration near the Thompson creek bridge in the Applegate area. He was brought to the hospital by Medford Ambulance service. Weather FORFCAST: Afternoon and fv nlnj thnndersho'-vers todav and Fnrfv. Cooler i?mp ra ti! res. low tonicht 5". High Friday 9Z-9S. Temp. Hiphpst Ylerdav 104 lowest thu Morning 61 Our Skies Tonight Sunrise 4:51 a.m. Sunset ... 7:14 p.m. Mnnnspt Fridav i:ft0 a.m. Full Moon Sunday PROM1VFNT STAR Vli.iir. hieh in smith- v t . . ? ne a.m. JupItT, p(S .. .. VftA p.m.. Saturn, set . .... 12:25 a.m. Mars, in the south east . 1:15 a.m. nns, rifs ... 3:01 a.m. Eugene Man Tells Of Seeing Sergeant Drink Before March Testimony Given Despite Protests Parris Island, S.C. U.P.) A former Marine drill instructor testified at the manslaughter court martial of Sgt. Matthew C. Mt'Keon today that he watch ed McKeon take "two or three" drinks of vodka the day the ser geant, ordered a "death march" in which six recruits drowned. The drinking testimony was injected in the trial despite the strongest efforts of McKeon's de-' fense counsel to keep it out as trivial matter, coincident to the accusations of manslaughter and j cruelty. j Drinking Incident Turned Up j Six of McKeon's platoon drowned on a surprise night march that carried them into the salty waters of Ribbon creek on the Parris Island base. An investigation following the tragedy turned up the informa tion that McKeon and two ser geants on the base had been drinking vodka the day of the incident. The first witness to tell about lhat was Cpl. Richard J. King. Eugene. Ore., who at the time of the fatal march was a junior drill instructor, along -with Mc Keon, of Recruit Platoon 71. He was the seventh prosecu tion witness. It was the fourth day of the court martial. Vodka Bottle on Table King said that about 11 a.m. he entered the drill instructors' room and found T. Sgt. Elwyn B. Scarborough, Lunchburg, S.C, the range instructor, there. McKeon came in. "There was a bottle of vodka sitting on the table when I walk ed into the room," King testified. "Sgt. Scarborough and Sgt. Mc Keon had a drink, maybe two. And after lhat someone offered me a drink. I took it." Under questioning by the prosecution. Marine Mnj. Charles B. Sevier. King said he saw McKeon take "two or three" drinks. Photographs Shown Photographs of the six drown ed recruits were held in front of McKeon today. The prosecution was attempt ing to send McKeon to prison for six years and three months and to have him dishonorably discharged from the Marines for an April death march in which the six men were drowned in a training exercise to "teach them discipline." Deadline forCily Candidates Hears The deadline for candidates filing for mayor and four coun cil positions in Medford is Aug. 31. Mayor Earl Miller has re minded councilmen. The posi tions will be filled at the gen eral election in November. Mayor Miller urged council men whose terms expire this year to announce their inten tions soon. In addition to Mayor Miller's term, other terms which will ex pire are those of John Snider, councilman from ward I; Harold Frye, councilman from w-ard III: Jack Fitzgerald, councilman ward IV: and a ward II position, left vacant when Dick Wood cock resigned because he moved from the ward. Filings for various positions should be made with the city re corder in the city hall. "Fellow, j i si i ear United Press F. 26 Pages Ike Convinced Physical Stamina For 4 More Years Doctors Unconcerned Over Loss in Weight Washington (UP) President Eisenhower is convinced that he has the physical stamina to carry on a vigorous reelection campaign and serve out another four years in office. That is the consensus of a United Press. survey of persons who have talked with the Presi dent since he returned to the White House from Gettysburg, Pa., last Sunday. The White House plans to is sue no new medical bulletins on the President's condition. It is possible, however, to give this up-to-date report of Mr. Eisen hower's condition: He weighs 163' 2 pounds. Pri or to his heart attack last Sept. 24 he weighed 178. About the time he underwent surgery on June 9 for ileitis, he weighed just under 170 pounds. Shirt Size Changed Following his heart attack he was placed on a reduced diet of 1.800 calories a day. Since his more recent illness, his caloric intake has been boosted to 2,500 calorics a day, but this has not produced much increase in weight. Shortly after his op eration. Mr. Eisenhower's weight went down to 161 pounds. The President's physicians are not particularly concerned about his weight. They say that Mr. Eisenhower's basic period of convalescence will run about 12 weeks from the date of opera tion. This means he will be classed medically as a conva lescent patient until sometime in late August. Blood Pressure Normal His muscle tone is more than the doctors expected at this pnint. Contrary to some reports, he is not suffering from diar rhea, which sometimes is an after-effect from an operation on the intestine. As of Wednesday night. Mr. Eisenhower's blood pressure was normal for a man of his age and the prothrombin time (the blood clotting rate) was normal. Mr. Eisenhower recently has lesumed taking an anti-coagu-lent medicine. The Chief Executive's associ ates appeared to be more con cerned about his reaction to the windup of Congress late next week than the rigors of his im mediate schedule. Small House Burns Near Sardine Creek A small house near the mouth of Sardine creek in the Gold Hill area was destroyed by fire this morning, state forestry de partment patrolmen reported. The house is owned by the Estremado family but the occu pants were not at home at the time of the blaze and their names were not learned. Patrolmen were able to keep the fire from spreading. Cause of the blaze was undetermined. A crew of four men was sent to the scene with a pumper truck. I'm Neutral" -GON, THURSDAY, JULY Medford Wasn't Oregon's Only Hot Spot Yesterday By UNITED PRESS Weather forecasters said today there is no relief in sight for the heat wave that lias blanketed Oregon this week. Even the coastal area is coming in for some of the torrid temperatures and many areas of the state were expected to get 100-degree plus readings again today. The climbing temperatures coupled with a downward plunge in the humidity readings has sent the forest fire danger in the state soaring to a critical point. Gov. Elmo Smith has issued a proclamation, effective tomor row, closing more than 400.000 acres of Coos county forest lands and 100.000 acres in adjoining forests of Douglas county. Entry will be by permit only. Grants Pass reported the high reading in the state yesterday, at 106. The Dalles was close behind with 105. Salem and Medford were only one degree cooler and Roscburg recorded an even 100. Klamath Falls and Lakeview reported highs of 90 while Port land had 96 and Penaleton 99. Even at Astoria on the coast the temperature reached 88. Four Juveniles Admit Part in Theft of Car Four juvenile boys turned themselves in to Medford police about 6 p.m. last night and ad mitted parts in the theft of a 1940 model Chevrolet coupe from Parson's Motors used car lot, 817 North Bartlett St., the night of July 15. The boys are aged 13, 14, 14 and 16. The 13-year old has been lodged in a local home and the others placed in county jail. They all were referred to county juvenile authorities. Others Arresled Two other boys, Theodore Jas per Daily, 19, 544 Effie St., and a 16-year-old from Talent were arrested by city police on River side ave. later last night. Daily is in city jail charged with auto theft and receiving stolen prop erty. The other youth is in coun ty jail charged with receiving stolen property. A sixth juvenile, 16 years old. from Jacksonville, was arrested yesterday and placed in county jail charged with larceny of an auto. His arrest was in connec tion with the theft of a second Moist Air Brings Relief From Heal Moist unstable air moving in from California brought relief to area residents today from yes terday's highest temperature of the year, but brought with it the threat of thunderstorms. The forest fire hazard remained. Medford sweltered under a 104 degree maximum yesterday while Grants Pass was hottest in the state with 106, according to the weather bureau. Forecast through Friday is for cooler temperatures with a high of 92 to 95 degrees tomorrow. The local weather bureau station said the outlook is for afternoon and evening thundershowers both today and Friday. Southwest district headquar ters here for the state forestry department reported a lightning storm over Soda mountain this morning with no rain. The light ning storm was moving into the southeast corner of the district, District Warden Curt Kesheim said. The weather bureau reported the intrusion of moist unstable air moved up from the San Francisco bay area, building up thunderheads from the south. Dry unstable air accompanied yesterday's high temperature. Portland (U.R Leith Abbott, a Portland advertising execu tive, has been elected as presi dent of the Rose Festival asso ciation. Greatest Rate By Water Department in City Yesterday Meaford residents at 7 p.m. yesterday were using water at a rate of 28,300,000 gallons per day, the largest rate of flow on record by the city water depart ment, Robert Lee, superintend ent, said today. During one minute, the rate of use was 19,700 gallons based on the rate of flow taken at 7 p.m. However, the total amount of water used in the city between 8 a m. yesterday and 8 a.m. to day was 17,000,000 gallons. Lee said. That total was exceeded only last July 9. when 17.100,000 gallons set a one-day record for the amount of water flowing through the Capital Hill reser voirs. 1 Price 5c Tribune United Press Full Leased Wire 19, 1956 No. 102 auto from the Parson's lot the same night. According to statements given police by the boys, four of them stole the Chevrolet the night of Sunday, July 15. They said they took the car to Lake of the Woods and spent Monday there, going to a cabin by Butte creek to spend the night. Daley and the Talent boy met them there, the statement con tinued. Tuesday morning several of the boys went to buy grocer ies and on the way back the auto "broke down." They left it in a ditch two miles from Butte Falls, they said. To Trailer House Tuesday evening they went into an open trailer house, ac cording to statements, and took canned goods, blankets, and utensils. The four hitchhiked back to Medford yesterday aft crnoon and turned themselves in at the police station last night. The 16-year-old from Jackson ville signed a statement admit ting he stole a Buick from the Parson's lot Sunday night, but that he brought it back the same night. The Buick was found by police, abandoned on the Jack sonville highway one-half mile east of Jacksonville, police said. He also admitted being with other persons in the past few days when he or they stole hub caps, a battery, a coil of wire, some scrap metal, and some old steam radiators from different places in and around Medford, police said. County Asks Help In Pest Control The Jackson county sanitation depart, which is in charge of the spraying and fogging operations for mosquito control, has stress ed treatment of local areas by individuals in addition to that done by the county. Areas where there are septic tanks should be on the lookout for outcroping and cover such areas with sawdust. Small fish ponds are a breeding place for mosquitoes, officials added. Although the county unit can cover some 35 to 40 miles in one night, they try to investi gate any district from where complaints are received. Homeowners can keep a con centrate of DDT on hand to use as a spray under house eaves and other mosquito breeding places, officials said. The health department has urged checking creeks and small streams before swimming, and suggested contacting health au thorities before swimming in strange water. of Flow on lee pointed out there is an ample supply of water available from Big Butte springs, but a problem arises in distributing it to residences during hot summer weather. Residents have been remind ed that water department regu lations prohibit the use of open hoses for irrigation at any time. Lee noted that open hose irriga tion cuts down pressure in water mains and reduces pressure to all users. Use of an open hose for irriga tion of lawns and gardens, Lee said, is inefficient because it allows water to flow in a large quantity in one location, caus ing a considerable amount of run oU. A sprinkler, he said, da- Controversial Project Appears Permanently Out Idaho Firm at Work On Three-Dam Plan Washington OI.PJ T h Senate rejected today a Demo cratic sponsored bill to authorize construction of a high federal dam in Hells Canyon on the Idaho-Oregon border. The roll call vote was 41 to 51. It apparently doomed the con troversial project for this ses sion of Congress and perhaps permanently. A similar bill is before the House Rules committee but it was indicated there would be no move to bring it before the House itself in view of the Sen ate vote. Meantime, the Idaho Power Co. is at work cn a three-dam plan in the canyon that would preempt the Snake river site, and which will be well underway be fore Congress meets again. Before the vote, both oppon ents and backers of the bill charged the other side with pol itical maneuvering on the mea sure. Democratic sponsors asserted the White House staff brought all the pressure it could" to de feat the bill. One purpose, Sen. Joseph C. O'Mahoney (D-Wyo.), said, was to accomplish the de feat of Sen. Wayne Morse ID- Ore.), an ardent backer of the federal dam. Others charged the bill was opposed to support the position of Republican senatorial candi dates Douglas1 McKay in Oregon and Arthur B. Langiie in Wash ington. Both have been against the federal dam. But Republicans countered that Democratic National Chair man Paul M. Butler "sold" tna bill to congressional leaders to help Democratic candidates in the Pacific Northwest, like Morse. Sen. Warren G. Magnu son (D-Wash.), and Rep. Edith Green (D-Ore.). The bill would have authoriz ed a high dam across Snake riv er, a smaller power project on Scriver creek in Idaho, a n A transmission lines costing in all about S430, 000,000. The Idaho Power Co. has esti mated its three-dam plan will cost $133,000,000. It includes one storage dam with 1,000,000 acre feet capacity and two smaller "run of the river structures. The 41 to 51 roll call vote by which the Senate defeated the bill: Democrats for (39) Ander son, Bible, Chavez, Clements, Douglas, EUender, Fullbright, George, Gore, Green, Hayden, Hennings, Hill, Humphrey of Minn., Humphreys of Ky., Jack son, Johnson of Tex., Johnston of S.C, Kefauver, Kennedy. Kerr, Laird, Lehman, Magnu son, Mansfield, McClellan, Mc Namara, Monroney, Morse, Mur ray, Neely, Neuberger, O'Ma honey, Pastore, Scott, Sparkman, Stennis, Symington and Wof ford. Republicans for (2) Langer and Wiley. Democrats against (8) Byrd, Eastland, Ervin, Frear, Long, Robertson, Russell and Smathers. Republicans against (43) Aiken, Allott, Barrett, Beall, Bender, Bennett, Bricker, Bridg es, Bush, Butler, Capehart, Carl son, Case of N.J., Case of S.D., Cotton, Curtis, Dirksen, Duff, Dworshak, Flanders, Goldwater, Hickenlooper, Kruska, Ives, Jen ner, Knowland, Kuchel, Malone, Martin of Iowa, Martin of Pa., McCarthy, Millikan, Mundt, Payne, Purtell, Saltonstall, Scho eppel. Smith of Me., Smith of N.J., Thye, Watkins, Welker and Williams. Paired for the bill: Young (R). Paired against the bill: Hoi- land (D). Record Noted tributes water over a large area and the soil is able to absorb it. General Alarm Lee also reminded residents to turn off irrigation water when the general fire alarm is sound ed. This will increase the pres sure in the mains and provide more water for fire fighting. Lee said the general fire alarm will be sounded from the central fire station. One blast of the siren will indicate when an emergency is over. The 17.000.000 gallons of water used during the 24 hours ending at 8 a.m. today is equal to 140.000,000 pounds, or 70 tons. It was enough water to cover 560 acres to a depth of one inch, Bnd equalled 46. S acre feet
